In honor of June Is Audiobook Month (JIAM), we’re giving away a 16GB Kindle Fire HD with a standing polyurethane Origami Case (total value $176.00). And we’re excited about it!
You can take a Product Tour of the Kindle Fire HD by clicking on the image to the left. Dimensions are 7.5″ X 5.0″ X 0.42″ and weight is 12.2 oz (345 grams).
We’re sold on Amazon’s Whispersync and Immersion Reading features and want to encourage our readers to give these outstanding listening options a closer look. With Whispersync, you can use your Kindle, Apple and Android devices together – reading on one and listening on another. With Immersion Reading, you read and listen on your Kindle Fire – and it’s even better than it sounds.
Unfortunately Audible has taken down their classy little Immersion Reading video. We’ll be watching for an updated version to share.
The Giveaway
We’re giving away a 16GB Kindle Fire HD with a Mineral Black standing polyurethane Origami case (total value $176.00). It’s simple – just enter by midnight (CST) Monday, June 23rd. You’ll find the entry form at the bottom of the page. No comments are necessary for entry although we’d love to hear your thoughts in the discussion area. You may only enter once. We’ll contact you the morning of the 24th so watch your emails as we must have acknowledgement of your win within 24 hours. If we don’t hear from you, we’ll select another winner. The giveaway is limited to those living in the United States.
First – a quick look at Whispersync
What is Whispersync? Brenda best describes it in her Gal Tech article, Audible’s New Whispersync for Voice:
As a person who both reads and listens to her books, I found Amazon’s announcement about Whispersync for Voice exciting. Not only for the ability to switch between reading and listening but also for the opportunity to save a few dollars when buying both versions of the book. Imagine being able to read your Kindle eBook in bed at night as you nod off to sleep and being able to pick it up where you left off the next morning on your iPod as you head to work.
Amazon has some entertaining YouTube videos showcasing their products. Check this one out for more on Whispersync (it features Outlander!).
Now, for Immersion Reading
After introducing Whispersync, Amazon took the entire experience up another notch with Immersion Reading. From Audible:
Got a Kindle Fire HD or an Android device? If so, you can also read and listen simultaneously with real-time highlighting. It’s called Immersion Reading and that’s what it does: Immerse you in a story by narrating and highlighting the text as you read. It sparks an extra connection that boosts engagement, comprehension, and retention, taking you deeper into the book.
I’ve used both the Whispersync function – listening during the day and switching to my Kindle at night, picking up exactly where I stopped listening, and Immersion Reading – sitting my Kindle Fire on the kitchen countertop as I clean or prepare a meal and listening on my Kindle – either through the speaker (my preference) or earbuds as I occasionally watch the screen highlight each word as it is spoken. I’m a chronic reverser – I back up my iPod again and again throughout a book to relisten to a passage which can be quite frustrating. Immersion Reading makes it a breeze or allows me to simply read the passage I want to hear again. I enjoy Immersion Reading even more than Whispersyncing between two devices.
Brenda is the Whispersync/Immersion Reading expert around here and she has this to say about Immersion Reading:
First – why I’m hooked on Immersion Reading? I generally read a book for the instant gratification of finishing the story faster. I can then relax into the listen. But there are times when I’m reading and I can’t wait to hear a particular line or phrase read by the narrator for added impact. Immersion Reading makes grabbing spot listens fast and easy.
Then there is the ease of being able to find favorite scenes to relisten to. I search for a key word in the scene then go straight to that section. If I’m listening or relistening and can’t catch some wording (the dreaded true whisper in an audiobook) or I’m not getting the gist of a scene because my mind drifted, I can open the Kindle version and read that portion to know what’s being said or happening. Then I continue listening with a clear understanding.
And Immersion Reading is especially helpful when writing an Audio review, making it easier to bring key scenes back to mind. Or, you can easily find the perfect audio clip by going to the page in the book and relistening there on your Kindle Fire instead of searching back and forth through the audio version.
Time to Enter
Contest closed.
Good luck!
Lea Hensley
Nice giveaway! I’m still using the Kindle Fire 1st Gen…..can you believe it……it’s my third and probably my last. I really love it, but the new HD would be great!
I now have two Kindle Fires – the 1st Gen and the latest HD. I reasoned that my grandkids could play with my 1st Gen leaving the HD for me alone. :)
I’ve also found the grandkids card an excellent play when upgrading electronics. ;D
I have yet to try Immersion reading since my listening is in the car 99.9% of the time. I have seen people reading and driving (on the freeway no less!) but I personally frown on it :-)
Ha! Sounds like it’s time Lee to try listening at a time other than while you are in your car. Do you have a tablet? And a MP3 player or a phone that includes a MP3 player?
Lee you can listen to audiobooks via the Kindle Fire’ HDs excellent Dolby speakers while it sits on the seat next to you and be in the exact spot ready to read a few pages if you get the chance outside of the car. ;)
Ooh, Whispersync sounds awesome! Thanks for the giveaway!
Hope you can try it soon!
I LOVE immersion reading. I first tried it with The Black Count by Tom Reiss. I was getting frustrated while reading the book because it contained a lot of French names and words which I was skimming over because I don’t read French. I downloaded the audiobook from my library’s Overdrive website and listened to it while reading along with the “real” book. I was hooked.
I’ve been reading/listening regularly now in the mornings while riding my exercise bike. I read a “real” book while listening to the audiobook on my iPod Touch. On some books I’ve discovered that I read faster than the narration so sometimes it seems like the narration is slowing down my reading. I’ve found that I can speed up the sound 1.5x to 2x normal speed (this feature doesn’t appear to be available for all books) and even though it sounds strange when listening without a book my brain makes the adjustment so that it sounds normal when I’m reading along.
For someone wanting to try out immersion reading on the cheap, there are quite a few classics available as free Kindle books that have their Whispersynce companion audiobooks available for $.99. I believe that I read somewhere that they even have a monthly free book/audiobook. The best link I’ve found to find the $.99 classics is http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kics_hp_dp_lm?ie=UTF8&docId=1000827761 . Even if you don’t want to read the Kindle book, you can buy it to qualify for the $.99 audiobook and then listen to the audiobook while reading a ‘real’ book.
Our library has Playaways and last week I introduced two young readers to the idea of listening to a Playaway while reading along with the ‘real’ book. I’m waiting for them to let me know how well it worked for them.
Thank you Yvonne for the information!
Yvonne I agree on the foreign words and accents – it’s one of the best pluses when listening. Hearing all the French and Italian so beautifully done by Kate Reading in Lord of Scoundrels was fabulous.
I find your point here fascinating “even though it sounds strange when listening without a book my brain makes the adjustment so that it sounds normal when I’m reading along.” I’m going to have to try it.
Thanks for the link to the Classics and the mention of the bargain audios to be found! :)
Speaking of foreign languages, this works well the other way too. I’ve been recommending to people who want to improve their pronunciation of English to listen to an audiobook while they read along on an ink-n-paper edition of the same. I don’t have enough results yet to say for sure but I rather suspect that the gender and the nationality (US -vs- UK) of the reader are big factors.
Thank you for this post, for it reminded me of Whispersync and how it aids immersion reading; I’ll have to recommend that to those who can afford it.
Y’know, the biggest barrier for those who are ESL is the extra effort this requires; for most people immersion reading is a lot of work, *especially* if the material is boring. A romance on Whispersync may be just the thing!
I have been hesitant to move forward with the Outlander series after listening to the first four. I LOVE this series but I tend to shy away from reading really long books – I listen to them and my listening schedule is packed full (Book 5 = 55+ hours).
After writing this last night. I turned to my Kindle Fire HD and downloaded The Fiery Cross (Book 5) and started the Immersion Reading. This is definitely the way for me to go!! I can read if I want before I go to bed and listen during the day, but even better, with the Immersion Reading, I can look down and see some of those many details rather than backing up and listening again to make sure I have it all. And the names – I can search on my Kindle to make sure I have it all straight.
Really looking forward to this!
How exciting!!! I am working my towards an e reader, I am seeing more and more value in this and the Kindle Fire is the way I wish to go. Thank you so much for the fun opportunity!
I have over a thousand Kindle ebooks but no kindle. I read them on the PC but since I don’t like being sequestered to my desktop in order to read them it takes me forever to go through them. I have been going through audio books by the droves though. Many I electronically borrow from my library and listen to on my iPod Nano. Immersion reading on the Fire HD sounds like my kind of heaven. Thanks for the chance!
Thank you so much for the chance to win! I have some books both the Kindle version and the audible version. I would love to try the Immersion reading!
Ooohh – the part about not having to back up to catch details I missed in an audio version – that makes me want to try immersion reading right there as I find myself constantly backing up a track and replaying it! Great giveaway, my ear buds are crossed ;)
I have looked at the Fire and its features, but missed ” Immersion”. will have to learn more about how to use this.
Thanks for this amazing giveaway chance ladies! I’ve been dying to get a kindle fire since they first came out. I listen to all my audiobooks on my computers iTunes and media player.
Very nice giveaway, and reviews. Happy Summer Reading! .
Congrats to our winner – Jane!